BurnBall is an addicting game with a fairly simple concept that is executed well while making use of the accelerometer.
The premise is that the evil Dr. Grey aims to turn the entire planet, you guessed it, gray (perhaps an understudy of the grey-loving Jasper John). You are Roy, whose mission is to stop him. You accomplish this by rolling a red ball across the screen. But beware: Dr. Grey’s minions have been sent to stop you (there really would not be a game if they hadn’t). BurnBall even includes a storyline sequence to provide the back story. It is quite clever, given that a lot of games in the App Store spend too little time on developing a storyline.
This is where the fun begins. You must roll the ball throughout the screen without letting any of the creatures touch it or the red trail behind it. Each time you successfully roll from one part of the colored earth back to another, you bring that portion back to life. This further traps the enemies, who can only venture in the gray zone. Your mission is to rescue your friends and save the planet from a colorless world. There are upgrades, such as the BurnBall, which speed you up. While playing the upper-level rounds, additional robots will come out to “re-grey” the portions you’ve already saved. This adds an extra challenge.
The only wish I had was that the accelerometer would be a bit more responsive. I found myself turning my iPhone so far that I could barely see the screen when trying to maneuver through the field. The developer description in the App Store says, “The game evokes feeling. The sound effects bring extra life to the game.” Maybe I should talk to a therapist, but I was unmoved by BurnBall. And some of the sound effects were a bit annoying, such as Roy’s squeals when he was hurt. Turning off the sound, however, fixed the problem.
BurnBall makes for some simple fun when looking to kill a few minutes. Head over the App Store and download BurnBall for just $0.99 during its launch sale. The regular price will be $4.99.
